About one week ago I received an email from a former colleague of mine asking if I would be willing to be on the list of references on her resume. I had taught with this person for a few years so I knew her teaching ability well and had several opportunities to observe her training. She is a fantastic trainer. I enjoyed watching her interact and engage her students. I would definitely be willing to recommend her.
After reading her email, I felt a sense of hesitation. She had written the email with the grammar style that suited texting, not email. It definitely was not appropriate for a professional email requesting help for a job search. I tried to put myself in her shoes. If I had written this email to my supervisor or colleagues at Versitas, what response would I receive?
I think I was so shocked at the grammar in the email because she is such a polished professional in so many ways. I really couldn’t say that the lack of grammar was because she was writing to her buddy or close friend. Over the years, we have maintained a business relationship but not a personal friendship.
With all of the texting and tweeting people are doing for business and personal purposes, we get used to writing to get the message across in 140 or 160 characters or less. I think that style spills over into our professional email correspondence sometimes. I realize that many corporations have switched over to business casual dress, but I don’t believe they have switched over to grammar casual for correspondence!
In the past I have trained several corporations’ employees on Business English. I was pleasantly surprised that these corporations were so interested in making sure that their employees had a refresher course on grammar and spelling. I think that it is hard to place a value on employees’ ability to correspond professionally with others inside and outside of their organization. However, I’m glad that those corporations had the foresight to spend the money on training that might not directly and immediately show up in the bottom line, but would indirectly affect their reputation and business dealings over time.
I think my former colleague would be well advised to take the course.
